History of the Department

The Department of Modern Languages at the College of William & Mary enjoys the
distinction of being the oldest
modern languages program in the United States. The Department traces its beginnings
to the establishment of a professorship in modern languages at the College of
William and Mary in a curriculum reform instituted by Thomas Jefferson in 1779. As a part of this reform, the College became a university, with schools in law, grammar, medicine, fine arts, and modern languages. The first professor of Modern Languages was Carlo Bellini, a native of Florence, Italy and close friend of Thomas Jefferson. Bellini served as a professor of the College for 33 years, teaching Italian and French. During his professorship, the classes were suspended for 2 years due to the Revolutionary War until it reopened in October of 1782. The College was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers during those years. Of the professors, Bellini was the only one to stay in residence at the College, staying behind to 'attempt to protect the library and scientific apparatus.' A series
of annual lectures at the College has been established by the department in
his honor.

Upon his resignation in 1803, Bellini was succeeded by French native, Louis Hué Girardin. Born Louis François Picot, Girardin studied law in Paris and was a moderate Royalist during the French Revolution. During the war, he escaped the country on a French man-of-war and came to the United States in 1793. At the College, he taught French, history, geography, and botany. He resigned in 1807, due to a failed restructuring attempt that would establish him as the chair of natural history. The Modern Languages department was left to a part-time French instructor, A. Plunkett. The department managed with part-time faculty until 1828 when Spanish Colonel C. de la Pena was hired as the chair. Under his direction, the department expanded to include French, Spanish, Italian and Latin. He worked at the College for two years without pay. After Pena left in 1830, the Modern Languages department was suspended for nearly 30 years. It was revived in 1858 and expanded to two professorships, teaching French, Italian, Spanish, German, Greek and Latin.

Today, the Modern Languages and Literatures Department is housed in
Washington Hall. Constructed in 1928, Washington Hall honors George
Washington
in recognition of his ties to William and Mary, where he received his
surveyor's license in 1749 and served as the first American Chancellor
from 1788-1799. It was intended to serve as the "main academic building of the College" during the renovation of the Christopher Wren Building. Washington Hall originally housed a biology laboratory
on the first floor and liberal arts classrooms on the second and third
floors, including art, psychology, and home economics. It also was home to the offices of the Dean and Registrar.
Washington Hall underwent renovations in 1989 and is now the location
of both the Modern Languages and Anthropology departments.

Today

Today Carlo Bellini's single professorship has grown to nearly 50 faculty members
offering numerous courses in language, literature, and culture. From the early days of French and Italian, we now teach eight languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Faculty members
of every rank are engaged in teaching at all levels, in study abroad programs,
in a variety of research activities, and in service to the College, the community
and the profession.